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Propaganda, Human Consciousness, And The Future Of Civilization

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Propaganda, Human Consciousness, And The Future Of Civilization

By Caitlin Johnstone

As Originally Posted on Medium.com on August 21, 2017

 

While researching the subject of propaganda for an article I will eventually write, I stumbled upon this little gem by Caitlin Johnstone on Medium.com. I have been following Caitlin for several months now, but this article predates my awareness of her. It's a short but powerful read. When you are finished, I strongly urge you to pop over to her website and sign up to be notified of her future articles. She's a keeper. - Cognitive Dissonance

 

A duck floats past two fish, looks down and says “Morning boys! How’s the water?” The fish swim on for a bit, then one of them turns to the other and says, “What the fuck is water?”

Corporatist propaganda is to western civilization what water is to fish. Our culture is saturated in it; it informs so many levels of our worldview and most of us never even examine any of them. It informs all aspects of culture, from our beliefs about what’s going on in the world to our understanding of history to what issues we think we’re supposed to care about on a given day to what opinions we think we’re allowed to choose from. People think they know what’s going on in their society, why their country fought this or that war, how their nation’s government and economy operate, when really they don’t know any of those things. All their most basic assumptions about their world, their culture, and even who they are as individuals is fully pervaded by mass media propaganda narratives. Continue reading Propaganda, Human Consciousness, And The Future Of Civilization →

Cogs Two Ice Floes Post, Cogs ZH Posts

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

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Stupid Is As Stupid Does

By

Cognitive Dissonance

 

 

The other night, Mrs. Cog and I streamed a movie about an obviously intelligent man (some might say brilliant) who constantly got himself into, and out of, tight spots and life threatening situations. The show was well written and entirely plausible, believable even. In fact, it reminded me of some people I know…and maybe even a little bit of me.

At one point near the end, Mrs. Cog turned to me and quipped, “For such a smart person, he’s really quite stupid”. I quickly rose to the characters defense, claiming it wasn’t stupidity that compelled him to do stupid things, but his huge outsized ego that drove him into and out of trouble at every turn.

But my answer didn’t sit well with me, similar to a late night meal that sits in the belly rather than digesting. You just know there’s going to be trouble if you don’t promptly address it.

Of course Mrs. Cog was correct; this smart man was consistently doing stupid things. And as Forrest Gump famously said in the movie by the same name…”stupid is as stupid does”. Ultimately we are measured by our actions and not our intent, desire or intelligence. Regardless of our reason, if we’re doing stupid things we can rightfully be classified as stupid. Continue reading Stupid Is As Stupid Does →

Cogs Two Ice Floes Post

A Double Rainbow Graces Cogville

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A Double Rainbow Graces Cogville

By

Cognitive Dissonance

 

It has been a somewhat dry spring so far. Not dust bowl dry, but rather a lack of vibrant green dry. During a more 'normal' spring up here on the mountain, there’s usually that point during the early tree bloom when it appears there are a thousand shades of green everywhere you look.

Not so much this year. There is still plenty of green, but much less contrast.

What we do have is a massive weed bloom where the normally dark green grass would be. Weeds cope well in dry conditions and tend to hog all the available water, effectively crowding out the grass. When moisture is abundant, the opposite tends to occur.

Though to be honest, we don't have 'grass' so much as we have closely mowed hay fields. I'm not sure the previous owners ever actually planted grass everywhere they cleared. And if they did, it is slowly being overwhelmed by Mother Nature’s own version of a green carpet.

Regardless, it has been dry. Therefore we have been closely watching the weather reports for signs of rain. To help matters along I did an Internet search the other day for the proper technique used to conduct an old school rain dance. I decided to skip the idea when there was mention of naked dancing. Poor Mrs. Cog can only tolerate so much. Continue reading A Double Rainbow Graces Cogville →